Cutting device



B. MOORE CUTTING DEVICE July 29, 1952 Filed June 16, 1950 INVENTOR. Bwell Moore ATTOFQNEV w a a 4 Patented July 29', 1952 UNITED STATES PATENT CUTTING DEVICE Buell Moore, Houston, Tex. Application June 16, 1950, Serial No. 168,585

This invention relates to cutting devices, and particularly to a device which is adapted for cutting slots or openings of various sizes or shapes in the walls of articles made of sheet metal or rigid or semi-rigid sheet materials.

In the construction of radio and other electronic equipment, for example, the various elements of such equipment are normally mounted on suitable sheet metal bases, so-called chassis, and the several elements normally have widely varying shapes, which require mounting openings of correspondingly varying shapes in the chassis for compact mounting of the elements. The cutting of openings, because of the varying sizes and shapes required, does not lend itself readily to any conventional machine operation, and the cutting device of the present invention provides a simple and efiicient tool for this purpose.

The principal objects of the present invention are to provide a hand-operated cutting tool, which is simple and efficient in operation; which is highly flexible in regard to the variation in sizes and shapes of the openings which it will cut; which will out such openings'cleanly and without distortion of the surrounding material; which will cut from either side of a sheet of material; and which will cut sheet material either from an edge thereof or from a small opening initially provided in the material spaced from the edges thereof.

Other and more specific objects and advantages of this invention will become apparent from the following detailed description when read in conjunction with the accompanying drawings which illustrate one useful embodiment in accordance with this invention.

In the drawings:

Fig. 1 is a side elevational view of the cutting device;

Fig. 2 is a front end elevational view of the device;

Fig. 3 is a longitudinal sectional view taken generally along line 3-3 of Fig. 2 and showing the several parts of the device in the. positions occupied at the beginning of a cutting operation;

Fig. 4 is a view similar to Fig. 3 .showing the parts in the positions occupied atcomp'letion of a cutting operation;

Fig. 5 is a View in perspective of one of the parts of the device; and

Fig. 6 is a view in perspective showing the cutting device engaged in cutting one type of opening in sheet material.

Referring to the drawings-a body [0, 'con- 5 Claims. (01. 30-241) structed of any suitable metal, which may conveniently be aluminum or aluminum alloy, because of its relatively light weight, and made in generally flat rectangular shape, is provided with an elongated handle ll extending at an angle from one corner of the body, as shown. Handle ll may be formed integrally with body H], but in any case, is rigidly connected thereto and its angle relative to the body may be any suitable angle depending upon the degree of leverage desired in operation of the device. A generally rectangular opening 12 is provided transversely through body Ill adjacent the end nearest the point of departure of handle II from the body. For convenience in description this end of the body will be referred to as the lower end, and the opposite end as the upper end, although it will be understood that the ends may actually be reversed depending upon the position in which the device is held in operation.

A longitudinal bore I3, which is preferably square in cross-section, extends longitudinally from the upper end of body I0 and intermediate the sides thereof into communication with opening [2. A bore 14, co-axial with bore [3, and preferably round in cross section and of somewhat larger diameter than bore [3, extends 1ongitudinally from the lower end of body It! into communication with opening l2. A die-plate I5, constructed of hard metal, and shaped to be flush with the upper end of body [0 is mounted thereon and held in place by a plurality of hollow-head studs 16 which are countersunk into die plate I5 so that their upper ends will be flush or slightly below the upper face of the die plate. The die plate is provided with a rectangular die slot ll, having a width substantially equal to that of bore l3 and a length somewhat greater than its width. Die slot [1 registers with bore 13 and its right hand end wall is positioned substantially flush with corresponding wall of bore l3. The opposite end of die slot [1 will, therefore, extend laterally to the left of bore I 3. A passageway l8 extends downwardly and outwardly through body H), the upper end of passageway l8 communicating with the bottom of die slot ll adjacent bore l3, and the lower end discharging to the exterior of body It), being preferably flared at its discharge end, as shown. Passageway I8 is provided for the discharge from the device of cuttings which fall into die slot H.

A cutter member, designated generally by the numeral 20, comprises an elongated square stem 2| shaped and dimensioned to slide longitudinally in die slot l1 and bore I3. The upper end of stem 2| is provided with a laterally extending cutter head 22 shaped and dimensioned to have a close sliding fit in the left hand portion of die slot H. The lower edge of head 22 forms a downwardly facing shoulder 23, which is curved upwardly transversely of its length, as at '24, providing relatively sharp edges along opposite sides of the shoulder. The lower end of stem 2| is provided with cylindrical extension 25 having an externally threaded section 26 at its lower end. The juncture of the square portion of stem 2| with the cylindrical extension 25 forms an annular shoulder 21.

For moving cutter head 22 relative to die slot H, a cross-head block 28 is mounted transversely of opening I2 and is provided with a bore 29 through which extension 25 is inserted. A sleeve nut 30 extends slidably into bore l4 and is screwed on threaded section 26. By screwing nut 38 on extension 25, block 28 is urged upwardly on extension 25 against shoulder 21, thereby firmly locking block 28 to the cutter member and providing means for connecting the cutter member, block 28 and sleeve nut 38 into a unitary structure which is longitudinally reciprocable in body ill. The height of block 28 is made somewhat less than the longitudinal length of opening |2, to thereby permit a limited degree of longitudinal movement of block 28 in opening I2. The outer ends of block 28 extend outwardly from the opposite sides of body l and are notched transversely at 3|-3| to form pairs of vertically spaced lugs 32-32, the opposing faces of which may be provided with pairs of oppositely tapered or sloping surfaces 33-33 forming cams which are employed in reciprocating the cutter member.

A second handle or lever arm 34 is provided with a fork 35 at one end, the arms of the fork being adapted to extend across the opposite sides of body It), passing through the respective notches 3| between the pairs of lugs 32-32 in engagement with the upper and lower pairs of surfaces 33-33. The outer ends of the fork arms are pivotally connected to the left-hand side of body H] by means of a hinge pin 36 which extends transversely through the ends of the fork and the portion of body In embraced within the fork. With this arrangement it will be seen that by moving lever arm 34- up or down, the cutter member will be correspondingly reciprocated relative to body ID.

The above-described device is operated in the following manner: Sheet material to be cut is inserted between die plate l and cutting shoulder 23, when the latter is in the raised position, illustrated in Fig. 3. Lever arm 34 is then moved downwardly about pivot 36 to force block 28 downwardly, thereby driving cutter member 28 downwardly and forcing shoulder 23 downwardly against the inserted sheet material and by interaction with the edges of die slot cutting a correspondingly shaped piece from the plate. Lever arm 34 maythen be raised and the device advanced into the cut intocontact with the new edge formed in the first cut and the cutting operation repeated. Thus, by a simple scissor-action the device may be used to cut openings of any size and shape;

Fig. 6 illustrates the manner in which the device is used in cutting inside the edges of a plate 4!]. A small opening 4| is made in the plate, as by drilling, the opening being just large enough to permit cutter head 22 to be inserted through the opening. Starting from any point in the initial opening, the cutter device maybe moved inany desired direction, turned, and otherwise suitably manipulated to produce slots or other openings of the desired shape.

It will be seen that the device in accordance with this invention may be employed to cut from either side of a sheet and permits wide flexibility in use. With the cutting arrangement provided, the cuts are made cleanly and without any distortion of the surrounding material.

It will be understood that various alterations and changes may be made in the details of the illustrative embodiment within the spirit of this invention without departing from the scope of the appended claims.

What I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

l. A cutting device, comprising, a body member,

a die mounted on one end of said body and adapted to support sheet material to be cut, a reciprocable cutter member extending through said body past said die, a laterally projecting cutting shoulder on said cutter member cooperating with said die to out said sheet material, a transverse opening in said body through which said cutter member passes, a cross-head member reciprocable in said opening and locked to said cutter member, a handle rigidly connected to said body, and a lever arm having one end pivotally connected to one side of said body and an intermediate portion thereof in reciprocating-engagement with said cross-head member.

2. A cutting device, comprising, a body member, a die mounted on one end of said body and adapted to support sheet material to be cut, a reciprocable cutter member extending through said body past said die, a laterally projecting cutting shoulder on said cutter member cooperating with said die to out said sheet material, a transverse opening in said body through which said cutter member passes, a cross-head member reciprocable in said opening and locked to said cutter member, pairs of longitudinally spaced lugs projecting laterally from opposite ends of said cross-head member, a handle rigidly connected to said body, and a bifurcated lever arm extending across opposite sides of said body having its end pivotally connected to said body and intermediate portions thereof extending between said pairs of lugs.

3. A cutting device, comprising, a body member, a die plate mounted on one end of said body and adapted to support sheet material to be cut, a cutting slot in said die plate, a reciprocable cutter member extending through said slot and said body past said die, a laterally projecting cutting shoulder on said cutter member cooperating with said cutting slot to cut said sheet material, a cuttings-discharge passageway communicating with said die slot and extending through said body, a cross-head member reciprocable in said opening and locked to said cutter member, a handle rigidly connected to said body, and a lever arm having one end pivotally connected to one side of the body and an intermediate portion thereof in reciprocating engagement with said cross-head member.

4. A cutting device, comprising, a body member, a die mounted on one end of said body member and adapted to support sheet material to be cut, a reciprocable cutter member extending through said body member past said die, a laterally projecting cutting shoulder on said cutter member cooperating with said die to cut said sheet material, a transverse opening in said body member through which the shank of said cutter member passes, a cross-head member reciprocable in said opening, means for locking said crosshead member to said shank, said means comp-ris ing a passageway extending through said crosshead member to receive said shank, an internal shoulder in said passageway, an external shoulder on said shank engageable with said internal shoulder, a threaded extension on said shank extending through said passageway, and a lock nut on said extension and adapted to bear against the adjacent face of said cross-head member to draw said shoulders together, a handle rigidly connected to said body member and extending at an angle therefrom and a lever arm having one end pivotally connected to said body member at one side of said transverse opening and having an intermediate portion thereof in reciprocating engagement with said cross-head member.

5. A cutting device, comprising, a body member, a die mounted on one end of said body member and adapted to support sheet material to be cut, a reciprocable cutter member having a shank of generally square cross-section extending through said body past said die, a laterally projecting cutting shoulder adjacent one end of said cutter member cooperating with said die to out said sheet material, a cylindrical threaded extension at the opposite end of said shank forming an external shoulder intermediate said ends, a transverse opening in said body member through which said cutter member passes, a cross-head member reciprocable in said opening, a passagesaid shank, said passageway having a generally square cross-section at one end to snugly receive the inner end portion of said shank, and the remainder of said passageway being generally cylindrical to receive said cylindrical extension and thereby forming an internal shoulder in said passageway engageable by said external shoulder, a lock nut having threaded engagement with said cylindrical extension and having its inner end in abutting engagement with the adjacent face of said cross-head whereby to draw said shoulders together and lock said cutter member to said cross-head, a handle rigidly connected to said body member and extending at an angle to the longitudinal axis thereof, and a lever arm having one end pivotally connected to said body member at one side of said transverse opening and an intermediate portion thereof in reciprocating engagement with said cross-head member.

BUELL MOORE.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 669,231 Carmody Mar. 5, 1901 2,329,387 Brenning Sept. 14, 1943 2,542,103 Adel Feb. 20, 1951 

